It has been a whole year since that magical, glorious day when you exchanged vows and put a ring on it. Every couple’s first year is different.
Maybe you both lived at home until you wed, and setting up housekeeping together was exciting because it was all so novel. Or maybe you both lived in your own places and had some tense moments as you merged your household items and decided what to about that horrendous thing your spouse apparently thinks is essential. Perhaps you lived together for years before you made it legal, and had no ups or downs at all about your household! But whatever the circumstances, your first year of marriage is full of firsts and milestones. And your first anniversary is something to celebrate.
What have you accomplished in this first year of marriage? Well, hopefully you’ve managed to send out all the thank you cards and organize your photo album. That much merits at least a bottle of bubbly and a cake. If you don’t already have children, you’ve survived a year of people sticking their noses into your private family planning decisions. You’ve negotiated a year of whichever holidays you celebrate, which requires serious diplomacy to keep your families at peace. Women have had at least one conversation defending whatever choice they’ve made about changing their surname – and at least one moment of doubt about the decision. Odds are that you’ve probably had at least one serious disagreement that scared you both. And you’ve taken a collective deep breath and worked through it. Basically, you are both ready to head up the UN and restore world peace. Congratulations!
First Wedding Anniversary Traditions
What will you do to celebrate this milestone, your first wedding anniversary? Having a romantic dinner out is a very popular way to mark wedding anniversaries. If your proposal happened in a restaurant, that would be a great choice, as would the place where you had your wedding dinner. If you had your reception in a hotel or restaurant, your first anniversary is a nice time to return.
The traditional gift for a first wedding anniversary in the USA is paper. That might not sound very exciting at first, but paper can include some not-so-obvious things. Tickets are printed on paper, whether are movie tickets or plane tickets. Books are made of paper. The UK has a different list, and the first anniversary gift on that list is cotton. Hopefully by the end of your first year of marriage picking out gifts of clothing for each other is not a minefield. There is a modern list of wedding anniversary gifts, and that gives clocks as a first wedding anniversary present. The traditional flower for the first wedding anniversary is carnation. And the first anniversary gemstone is mother of pearl.
The first anniversary is the cumulation of many small milestones together. You’ve found your feet as a married couple, and hopefully you both realize that the only measure of your marriage’s success is your own happiness and contentment. You can embrace established traditions or create your own. It’s your marriage. Congratulations!
